WALHALLA, S.C., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A retired Secret Service agent who ran for county sheriff last year was found guilty Tuesday of plotting to kidnap a retired judge in South Carolina.
James Bartee, 55, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, five years probation and 250 hours of community service for scheming to abduct retired Judge James Williams Jr., WHNS-TV, Greenville, reported. Bartee's attorney said he would appeal.
Authorities alleged the plot was hatched during a dispute Bartee had with Williams regarding his eligibility and qualifications to run for sheriff Oconee County. Authorities charged that Bartee gave money to a man he had asked to kidnap Williams in order for the man to buy items that would aid in the commission of the crime.
Bartee, a retired U.S. Secret Service agent, was arrested in May 2012 after South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents completed their investigation of the kidnapping plot, the Anderson Independent Mail said.
Bartee dropped out of the race in June 2012 and Mike Crenshaw was later elected.
